


nurse the shoreline like a wound

by orphan_account



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: (i do), M/M, Tour life, Where We Are Tour, and wanna wear those glasses, it's lashton but only if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2082225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On this tour, the hotel stops have been few and far between and Luke's curled up in his bunk for the third night in a row with his legs bent. There's a burning in his knees that's his legs begging to be extended, but every time he tries his toes hit the wall far too soon to provide any sort of relief.</p><p>or, Luke has trouble sleeping on tour but it's always easier when he's close to Ashton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nurse the shoreline like a wound

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from "[The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows](http://youtu.be/qgtkPKZ2OPk)" by Brand New. It doesn't really have anything to do with this fic, but it's still an excellent song from an amazing band, so I suggest you check it out.
> 
> Please note that this is a work of fiction and in no way reflects the actual human beings known as Luke Hemmings and Ashton Irwin. I am not affiliated with them at all.
> 
> This is my first time writing anything vaguely slashy, so I hope it went well. I wrote this between 3am and 4am this morning whilst listening to "You Are A Tourist" by Death Cab for Cutie. So, technically, I can't be held accountable for this.
> 
> Let me know what you think, yeah?

They haven't been on tour long when Luke decides that he hates it. He'll never admit it in the interviews when he's asked if it starts to get to him, because he doesn't think it's something the fans would understand. It's not the actual performing part that he hates; of course he doesn't hate performing, why would he be in a band if he hated playing shows?

It's just, Luke is a born homebody. It's kind of fucked up that he was also born with a burning curiosity for most things, including the beat-up acoustic guitar Jack left in his room when he moved away for uni. But, well, that's how life works sometimes.

It's probably unfair to claim that he hates touring outright, anyway, because he'd loved their so-called "national tours" with just the lads and then Hot Chelle Rae, flying to a city to play a show and the flying out to the next. Some of his favorite memories are from those tours, rocking out on the weekends and then showing up for school on Monday with an exhaustion he'd labeled as jetlag even though he'd only ever been an hour out of his timezone.

But on this tour, the hotel stops have been few and far between and he's curled up in his bunk for the third night in a row with his legs bent. There's a burning in his knees that's his legs begging to be extended, but every time he tries his toes hit the wall far too soon to provide any sort of relief.

And, well, fuck that.

Luke holds his breath for a few moments so he can hear what's going on in the bunk area around him. Calum's soft snores float across the aisle, so Luke makes a note to be cautious. A sleeping Calum is adorable, like a puppy. A Calum awoken from his slumber is. . . Luke would rather face a dropbear than that fate. Michael's making soft, semi-frustrated noises from the bunk below Luke, so he's either playing a game on his DS or having a wank. It's hard to tell with Michael. He doesn't hear anything from the bunk across the aisle and down from his, where Ashton's probably slipped into a light doze watching some action movie on Netflix.

Luke grabs his pillow and bundles his blanket in his arms. After a few seconds of debating with himself, he grabs Pengey, too, and climbs out of his bunk as quietly as he can.

He can feel a headache coming on from lack of sleep, so he shuffles to the front lounge and unceremoniously dumps his bundle onto one side of the booth. He searches around for a bit before successfully locating the paracetamol and a bottle of water. He pops two, because they've got a busy day tomorrow —  _today_ , fuck — and he doesn't want to feel like shit because there's no way he'd be able to hide it.

He spares a glance at the leather couch less than ten feet from him and Luke _really_ wishes he could fall asleep on it, but he knows from experience that he can't, so he groans and picks up his discarded items from the booth.

He does his best to tiptoe back through the bunk area. And, really, he should've just walked on flat feet because he just narrowly misses losing his balance and falling right into Ashton's bunk when the bus hits a bump in the road.

Luke's relieved when he finally reaches the door to the back lounge. He's more than ready to put on a slow movie and cuddle into his pillow and Pengey until he falls asleep.

That's why he's shocked when he slides the door open to find Ashton sitting on the couch, a blanket pooled around his lap, the glow from his laptop illuminating his face.

Ashton looks up when he hears Luke opening the door, and he doesn't look surprised to see his bandmate standing the doorway, clutching a pillow and a stuffed penguin in one hand and a thin blanket in another.

"Hey, Lukey," he sighs. "Couldn't sleep?"

Luke doesn't move from where he's stood in between the bunks and the back lounge. He nods, running the palm of his hand hard against his eyes.

It's only after he's yawned, the act taking up all of his attention, that he realizes Ashton has snapped his laptop shut. He can no longer see Ashton's face clearly without the light from the laptop screen, but he's known Ashton long enough to know that there's a small smile on his face even though the skin around Ashton's own eyes is probably tight from lack of rest.

"Well," Ashton says, and Luke doesn't miss the fact that Ashton's fighting back a yawn himself, "c'mere, then."

And, well, Luke doesn't have to be told twice. He slides the door shut behind him and walks across the small room to where Ashton's now horizontal on the couch, arms open for Luke.

Luke wiggles his pillow and Ashton raises his head so Luke can slide it under him. As soon as he's sure Ashton's comfortable, Luke flops down onto the couch in front of Ashton, head resting on the pillow inches from the other boy's.

From this point, it's almost instinct. They'd developed a habit on the Take Me Home Tour, when Luke was still two inches shorter than Ashton and fit comfortably in his own bunk, for when Luke couldn't sleep. He'd just climb down from his bunk, probably around 2am, and into the bunk below his and Ashton would be waiting with room on his pillow and welcoming arms.

Luke knows from pictures and from talking to Ashton's high school friends that the older boy is a natural little spoon, but he's never seen a problem being the big spoon for Luke. Luke appreciates that, especially after his growth-spurt, because he enjoys the way Ashton's breath falls against the back of his neck and how being wrapped in Ashton's arms makes him feel like he's home even though Sydney's oceans away.

Ashton pulls the blanket up to their waists and then wraps his arms around Luke protectively. Luke sighs and leans back into the embrace, because anyone who said they weren't immediately comforted by Ashton's strong arms, muscled from drumming and irregular workout sessions, was a damn liar.

Ashton nuzzles his nose against Luke's neck before pressing a soft kiss to the skin there. If that makes Luke shiver all down his body, neither of them mentions it. It almost seems ridiculous that Luke was having so much trouble sleeping earlier, because once he's nestled in against Ashton, he drifts off within minutes.

When Luke wakes up, he tries stretch out the early morning soreness from his muscles, but finds that he can't. Ashton had wrapped himself around Luke even more sometime during the night, so Luke is practically immobilIzed from the neck down.

Luke doesn't mind, though. He just brushes his fingers against the exposed skin of Ashton's side and smiles, content. He lets himself drift back into his slumber. Calum'll wake them when they need to get ready for an interview.


End file.
